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Mark Cuban's Plan To Kill Google

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the well-that's-outside-the-box dept.

rsmiller510 writes "Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, has a plan to kill Google by paying the top 1,000 sites a cool million each to leave the Google index and move to Microsoft. But could such a plan ever work, and would it be worth the risk to abandon Google?"

23 of 773 comments (clear)

  1. Bribery by tsa · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I know bribery is accepted practice in the US but here in the EU it is still frowned upon.

    --

    -- Cheers!

    1. Re:Bribery by mordors9 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I would be willing to happily accept $1M in cash to never use Google again. It may be a bribe but I would be willing to suffer your scorn.

    2. Re:Bribery by Pieroxy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      What the heck is that all about? Google generates much much more than a million dollars to the top 1000 e-commerce websites, and in a few days. This has to be a joke.

      Seriously, the USERS decide which search engine is best, not the website owners. And why in the world would the top 1000 sites listen to an anonymous rich fool instead of Google which has provided a decent flow of clicks to their websites for ages....

      Are we the 1st of April or anything?

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    3. Re:Bribery by quickOnTheUptake · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Is anyone going to point out that this isn't bribery in any meaningful sense of the word?
      Paying someone to act a particular way is not a bribe, unless the guy being bribed has some moral or legal obligation to act contrary to the briber's interest.
      So do these websites have a moral or legal obligation to support or cooperate with Google?
      Oh yeah, and you're trolling.

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    4. Re:Bribery by interploy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Doesn't matter. Google's name has already achieved the marketer's dream: a generic name/verb. Which means it's in the same league as Coke, Kleenex and Xerox. Their name has become so big and so common it's replaced the real term. No one get's a soda, they get a coke, even when that 'coke' is a Pepsi. When was the last time anyone asked for a tissue instead of a Kleenex? And when you want something copied, you 'xerox' it. No one I know under the age of 40 searches for anything one the web, they 'google' it.

      So it doesn't matter what this guy pays, Google is simply too big to be replaced at this stage in the game. If Microsoft is smart, they'll work to make Bing number 2. If not, instead of becoming the search engine equivalent of Pepsi, they'll become the next Royal Crown Cola.

    5. Re:Bribery by Sparks23 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Actually, that's not necessarily the marketer's dream. Kleenex and Xerox have also had headaches because when the name becomes that ubiquitous, you have some issues keeping the rights to it. If the courts decide that your name has become a generic word, then you're in trouble in terms of legal enforcement of your trademark. Xerox in particular has discouraged people from using 'xerox' as a verb, because they're concerned about losing the trademark. From their own website's company factbook, italic emphasis mine:

      The Xerox Trademark
      Xerox is a famous trademark and trade name. Xerox as a trademark is properly used only as a brand name to identify the company's products and services. The Xerox trademark should always be used as a proper adjective followed by the generic name of the product: e.g., Xerox printer. The Xerox trademark should never be used as a verb. The trade name Xerox is an abbreviation for the company's full legal name: Xerox Corporation.
      XEROX is a registered trademark of Xerox Corporation.

      Wikipedia has a little information on this, too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox#Trademark

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    6. Re:Bribery by damburger · · Score: 5, Insightful

      True. The plan takes zero account of the strength of the Google brand; if companies did desert them then people wouldn't stop finding companies in Google overnight. They would simply find other (suddenly very happy) companies.

      --
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    7. Re:Bribery by Idbar · · Score: 5, Insightful

      As long as Mark pays Experts-exchange.com and they agree to leave my Google results alone once and for all, I'll be happy.

  2. So, the question is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Is it worth $1 million to leave Google? I'm guessing most of the sites would say no, that's incredibly short sighted.

    1. Re:So, the question is... by shawn(at)fsu · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yeah if you're one of the top sites on Google a million probably doesn't mean nearly as much as Mark Cuban thinks it does.

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    2. Re:So, the question is... by oldspewey · · Score: 5, Funny

      Be sure you understand the consequences before you opt out of Google forever.

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    3. Re:So, the question is... by Captain+Spam · · Score: 5, Funny

      Unless the top 1,000 sites happen to be, by odd math, shady viagra sales, knockoff Rolex retailers, and spammers.

      In which case, go right ahead, Mark! We're behind you all the way!

      --
      Demanding constant attention will only lead to attention.
    4. Re:So, the question is... by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 5, Informative

      First, It was $6B of Yahoo Stock, not $6B cash. I'm sure there are laws on how much you can sell and when.

      From Broadcast.com's Wiki.

      The record IPO made instant financial successes out of the company's employees through stock options, making 100 employees millionaires on paper (although most of them were unable to exercise their options and sell their shares before the stock price dropped) and founders Cuban and Wagner billionaires.

      Second, it may have been 'pure luck' it doesn't look like this was his only venture into entrepreneurial endeavors.

      Finally, that's still $2B dollars. From what I've read and the brief interaction in the time I met him (IU vs Purdue Alumni Rugby Match. Flew up in his personal Jet.) He has to be hands down one of the coolest Billionaires I've heard of.

      He supported Grokster in the MGM vs Grokster case. He buys random companies and starts random websites. Like bailoutsleuth "a grassroots, online portal for oversight over the US government's $700 billion dollar "bailout" of financial institutions."

      Not to mention he spouts off to NBA refs and other players. And shrugs his shoulder when they fine him. "Cuban has been fined by the NBA, mostly for critical statements about the league and referees, at least $1,665,000 for 13 incidents". (Matching each fine with a donation to a Charity). When he said something against Dairy Queen, he voluntarily worked at a DQ for a day.

      You can't honestly tell me if you came up with some idea (no matter how stupid) and convinced someone to buy it at the height of a bubble. You wouldn't take your billions and have a ball. Spending the rest of your life drinking, flying around in your jet, yelling at professional sports officials, supporting any cause you thought was cool.

      Hell. You could have a "Chyeld Day" on slashdot. Pay off Taco to change banner at the top for a few million.

  3. Motivation? by oldspewey · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What TFA is short on is any sense of motivation on Mark Cuban's part. Why does he want to do this? Did Google frighten him when he was a baby?

    --
    If libertarians are so opposed to effective government, why don't they all move to Somalia?
    1. Re:Motivation? by jmyers · · Score: 5, Informative

      Why in the world does the summary list to some stupid guys take on Mark Cubans blog post instead of the actual post?

      http://blogmaverick.com/2009/11/13/google-murdoch-madoff/

      Not that it answers any of your questions, other than maybe he is a publicity hound.

  4. 1 million is peanuts by guyfawkes-11-5 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    1 million is peanuts. Amazon, one of the top 100 sites, makes that during a coffee break.
    Why opt out of free product placement (Amazon usually ranks high in google) worldwide, for a pittance?
    Cuban's mojo has left the room.

    1. Re:1 million is peanuts by dlgeek · · Score: 5, Funny

      1 million in a coffee break? At first I thought this was an exaggeration, but then I ran the numbers. Amazon had 5,449 million USD in revenue last quarter, so that's about $60mil/day, or 1 million every 24 minutes (obviously this assumes a flat time distribution which is clearly not true, but lets keep going). A 24 minute coffee break is a bit excessive, but not completely out of the question. Once you take the non-averaged distribution into account, you can probably make a million in a 5-8 minute coffee break.

  5. illegal? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The phrase tortious interference comes to mind (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortious_interference)

    1. Re:illegal? by BabyDave · · Score: 5, Funny

      Not to be confused with "Tortoise interference", which severely disrupted the 2009 hare-racing world championship.

  6. Cry Wolf by iluvcapra · · Score: 5, Funny

    I guess I should file this under Mark Cuban's plan to defeat Barack Obama, Mark Cuban's plan to dominate basketball, Mark Cuban's plan to dominate HD television content, and Mark Cuban's plan to destroy theatrical motion picture distribution.

    --
    Don't blame me, I voted for Baltar.
  7. Mark's Resume by MyLongNickName · · Score: 5, Insightful

    From wikipedia: "In 1982, Cuban moved to Dallas, Texas. Cuban first found work as a bartender,[13][14] then as a salesperson for Your Business Software, one of the first PC software retailers in Dallas. He was terminated less than a year later, after meeting with a client to procure new business instead of opening the store.

    Cuban started a company, MicroSolutions, with support from his previous customers from Your Business Software. MicroSolutions was initially a system integrator and software reseller. The company was an early proponent of technologies such as Carbon Copy, Lotus Notes, and CompuServe.[15] One of the company's largest clients was Perot Systems.[16] In 1990, Cuban sold MicroSolutions to CompuServe--then a subsidiary of H&R Block--for $6 million.[17] He retained approximately $2 million after taxes on the deal.[18]

    In 1995, Cuban and fellow Indiana University alumnus Todd Wagner started Audionet, combining their mutual interest in college basketball and webcasting. With a single server and ISDN line[19], Audionet became Broadcast.com in 1998. By 1999, Broadcast.com had grown to 330 employees and $13.5 million in revenue for the second quarter.[20] In 1999, during the Dot-com boom, Broadcast.com was acquired by Yahoo! for $5.9 billion in Yahoo! stock.[21]"

    This man is not a business genius. He is a good self-promoter, and has leveraged this to making a lot of money. Re-read the last couple sentences. he had a business with 13.5 million in revenue in 3 months (not profit... with 330 employees, it was much, much lower). He then sold it for likely a 500+ P/E ratio.

    The tech stock market bubble made this man. I don't disparage him for that. However, any business advice coming from this man is virtually worthless. Self-promotion... he's up there.

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  8. Re:wow, a whole million? by 6031769 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Sigh. I know it's waaay too much to ask, but if you actually read his blog post it's not a plan at all - just some ideas that he's throwing around. The headline in TFA (and thence TFS) is misleading.

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  9. Bribery proves 2 things: Cuban is stupid. MS can't by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Maybe a better analysis:

    Mark Cuban was sitting around one day smoking something and wondered, "How can I prove that I am really, really stupid?"

    Oh, I know. Wow! I've got it. Microsoft could pay a billion dollars to prove to everyone that it can't compete, that it has to pay to get results. Why the advertising alone would be worth 50 billion. Everyone would associate Microsoft with puking.